Nothing gets a cook's juices flowing like a gleaming array of gourmet
gadgets. From ordinary devices you use everyday to strange contraptions that elicit "What does THAT do?" at dinner parties, kitchen tools
are a cook's best friend.

What gadgets are essential? We went to the experts at several kitchen retailers for recommendations.

Basics

If you're just starting out, good knives, a swivel peeler, a rubber spatula and a cheese grater top the list.

Gadget Guru Robin Beitman also suggests an oil mister. Fill it with your
choice of oil and spray pans for sauteeing or vegetables for grilling.

Specialized Tools

The wider your repertoire of recipes, the more likely you'll need
specific tools. "That's where
gadgets get really interesting, and where you'll often say "WHAT does that
do," said Bette Kahn, spokesperson for
Crate and Barrel.

Kahn mentioned a Cherry
Pitter, which looks like a strange dental device. With a quick squeeze, the
pit pops out.

Beitman was puzzled
when she first saw a chinois. The conical strainer has a wooden pestle to
push food through, producing a smooth
sauce or clear soup.

You've seen vegetable peelers, but how
about an asparagus peeler? A curved arm holds the asparagus, while the blade strips the fibrous skins
from bottom to top. Visit the Food Network to find this and other thingamajigs.

For seafood lovers, there's the mysterious fish tool. Tweezers on one side
remove bones from fish while a blade on the other peels shrimp and opens oysters.

The mandolin is a versatile slicing tool. A Garlic Mandolin retails for $4.99, but
you can also find full-sized
mandolins for $50.00 or even $200.00. Why the difference?
Beitman says that less expensive
ones will have some plastic parts, while pricier models are entirely
metal. The "starter" mandolin is more
likely to have safety features, like a guard to protect your fingers, than
expensive ones favored by experienced chefs.

Gadget Stores

Here are some of the best sources for gadgets:

Williams-Sonoma Find
everything from the ingenious wire whisk with ceramic ball (the added action
whips up extra fluffy egg whites and whipped cream) to the stick-blender (it purees soup, chops
ice, minces vegetables, kneads bread
dough and takes up just 13" of space) and the deLonghi convection oven
(a counter-top oven that can bake a
10" pie or roast a chicken).

Crate and Barrel
One of the most popular items on the site is a 7-piece stainless steel bar set.
You'll also find a bagel biter (slice bagels without slicing your
fingers) and the Perfect Beaker (measures
even combined quantities such as 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp).

Chef's Catalog
Check out bestsellers like the tomato holder, the
screwless wine opener and the olive oil mister.

OXO
This popular
gadget manufacturer's online
catalog features whisks, peelers and graters of every size and shape, as
well as sets that make expanding
your gadget collection easy.